Month: February 2012

In the volatile country of Somalia, the fight between militant groups has spilled over onto Twitter. The main opposition group al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked Somali militia, often uses the social media site to pick fights and proselytize to would-be recruits. One of the groups that opposes al-Shabab, the Sufi Islamist group Ahlu Sunna Waljamea, also uses…

8 February 2012 marks the launch of the Somali Humanitarian Operational Consortium (SHOC) in Mogadishu.  52 local development organisations came together to discuss the need for coordination and partnership, supported by The Humanitarian Forum, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Somali Relief and Development Forum and Muslim Charities Forum. The involvement of local actors as genuine equals…

A HEALTH committee in Brent has called on the Somali community to help regulate legal drug khat. Brent Council’s Health Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee has put forward recommendations to the council aimed at regulating and raising awareness of the plant-derived drug, which is prevalent in Wembley and among the Somali community. The council does…

At least 13 Al-Shabaab fighters have been killed including a top commander in the latest battle in the small town of Dalayat, North East of Badhade, a key transit point from the sea frequently used by the group to re-stock its military supplies,officials said on Wednesday. Military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said Abu Yahya, who…

MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber killed at least 11 people Wednesday in the war-torn Somali capital Mogadishu when he detonated an explosive-laden vehicle near the presidential palace, officials said. “There was a heavy explosion, a car full of explosives was detonated. At least 11 people were killed and a greater number were wounded,” lawmaker Mohamed Iro…

Nairobi — Hundreds of thousand s of Somali refugees in north eastern Kenya camps say they are facing sever appalling living condition after international aid agencies left for security reasons. Mohamed Ali, Somali ambassador in Kenya said, he is willing the humanitarian aid agencies to return into the refugee camps in Kenya to help people…

PERTH’S Somali-Australian community has played a key role in new research on the health impacts of khat (Catha edulis) leaves, chewed for their amphetamine-like stimulant effects. University of Queensland Associate Professor Heather Douglas, one of the authors behind The health impacts of khat: a qualitative study among Somali-Australians, said her interest stemmed from a newspaper…

A genocide against Christians is going on in the Muslim world. That’s according to the Somali-born former Dutch MP and writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali in Newsweek. According to Ms Hirsi Ali, since the Arab spring, Western governments and media have too often portrayed Muslims as heroes or victims, and they forget that thousands of Christians…

MOGADISHU, Somalia, February 7, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) has today welcomed the decision of the International Contact Group (ICG) on Somalia to condemn the escalating violence and attacks on journalists and media organizations in Somalia. At its just ended 21st meeting in Djibouti, ICG, for the first…

An EU study shows Finland’s Somali community still faces a great deal of discrimination. To improve the situation Finnish Somalis are coming together regularly in Helsinki to make their voices better heard in Finnish society. On the last Wednesday of every month a Somali club gathers at the Caisa international cultural centre in Helsinki. This…